Florence Le Cam

Waiting for Data Journalism

Data journalism has emerged as a trend worthy of attention in newsrooms the world over. Previous research has highlighted how elite media, journalism education institutions, and other interest groups take part in the emergence and evolution of data journalism. But has it equally gained momentum in smaller, less-scrutinized media markets? This paper looks at the ascent of data journalism in the French-speaking part of Belgium. It argues that journalism, and hence data journalism, can be understood as a socio-discursive practice: it is not only the production of (data-driven) journalistic artefacts that shapes the notion of (data) journalism, but also the discursive efforts of all the actors involved, in and out of the newsrooms. A set of qualitative inquiries allowed us to examine the phenomenon by first establishing a cartography of who and what counts as data journalism. It uncovers an overall reliance on a handful of passionate individuals, only partly backed up institutionally, and a limited amount of consensual references that could foster a shared interpretive community. A closer examination of the definitions reveal a sharp polyphony that is particularly polarized around the duality of the term itself, divided between a focus on data and a focus on journalism, and torn between the co-existing notions of “ordinary” and “thorough” data journalism. We also describe what is perceived as obstacles, which mostly pertain to broader traits that shape contemporary newsmaking; and explain why, if data journalism clearly exists as a matter of concern, it has not transformed in concrete undertakings.

The Material Traces of Journalism

This paper explores how the study of objects of journalism, retraced through the material traces left in metajournalistic discourses, might constitute a robust basis to investigate change and permanence in contemporary journalism. We delineate a research program focusing on materiality that requires foremost that objects should not be taken for granted and, therefore, that each object’s social history be minutely retraced. Stemming from two specific objects (the blog and the hyperlink), the paper argues that beyond their idiosyncrasies, both follow a similar rationale that could be extrapolated to other objects and lead to a materially focused social history of journalism in a digital age. The paper first clarifies how we approached the notion of “objects of journalism” and which objects we chose to study. Then, we show how different theoretical frameworks led us to adopt a similar research stance and a shared hypothetico-inductive path: determining how objects are parts of a series and analyzing metajournalistic discourses to retrace each object’s history on an empirically grounded basis. The resulting attention to filiations and context ultimately produces a contextualized socio-history of objects.This paper explores how the study of objects of journalism, retraced through the material traces left in metajournalistic discourses, might constitute a robust basis to investigate change and permanence in contemporary journalism. We delineate a research program focusing on materiality that requires foremost that objects should not be taken for granted and, therefore, that each object’s social history be minutely retraced. Stemming from two specific objects (the blog and the hyperlink), the paper argues that beyond their idiosyncrasies, both follow a similar rationale that could be extrapolated to other objects and lead to a materially focused social history of journalism in a digital age. The paper first clarifies how we approached the notion of “objects of journalism” and which objects we chose to study. Then, we show how different theoretical frameworks led us to adopt a similar research stance and a shared hypothetico-inductive path: determining how objects are parts of a series and analyzing metajour...

Journalism In Dispersion

The dynamics of digital news production and distribution challenge the definitions of what is news and who is supposed to produce it. Actors producing relevant information for the debates in the public sphere multiply and the relationships they establish in online spaces such as social media, among them and with journalists and the public, shape what is considered to be news and journalism in any given moment. This article traces the positions in the field of journalism in the city of Brussels, putting professional journalists in the context of the broader community, in order to identify the diversity of actors active in the production of information. A controversy concerning multiculturalism in Brussels serves as a case study. Discourse analysis of the news about the topic and interviews with professional journalists were used to trace the diversity of actors involved in producing narratives about that specific event. Journalists in mainstream media defend a hegemonic position in the construction of the news narrative of the event by dismissing alternative voices to the trusted institutional ones and not recognising the role of community media.

Photographs of newsrooms: From the printing house to open space offices. Analyzing the transformation of workspaces and information production:

Evolving from a small room at the heart of the printing house to a large, mobile open office, the newsroom is a concept that allows us to contemplate the changes that have transformed journalism over the past century. This article proposes a preliminary analysis of a corpus of photographs of media newsrooms in France, Canada, and Belgium at various points in history (from the end of the 19th century up to today). The analysis of newsroom photographs is necessarily multidimensional. It allows us to conduct a socio-historical study of how workplaces are created and structured and how information is produced. It paves the way for an analysis of the media’s modes of representation within the logic of external communication (to establish and promote its brand image through videos or pictures). It also permits us to make inferences while analyzing the organizational and managerial aspects of a company, and reveals the value of examining the objects used by journalists in their trade. Our goal is to clarify the various indicators and avenues for research that emerge from this corpus. This step will allow us to defend a specific approach to analyzing the material dimension of journalism.Evolving from a small room at the heart of the printing house to a large, mobile open office, the newsroom is a concept that allows us to contemplate the changes that have transformed journalism over the past century. This article proposes a preliminary analysis of a corpus of photographs of media newsrooms in France, Canada, and Belgium at various points in history (from the end of the 19th century up to today). The analysis of newsroom photographs is necessarily multidimensional. It allows us to conduct a socio-historical study of how workplaces are created and structured and how information is produced. It paves the way for an analysis of the media’s modes of representation within the logic of external communication (to establish and promote its brand image through videos or pictures). It also permits us to make inferences while analyzing the organizational and managerial aspects of a company, and reveals the value of examining the objects used by journalists in their trade. Our goal is to clarify the ...

Journalism beyond the boundaries: The collective construction of news narratives

Introduction: The Many Boundaries of Journalism Matt Carlson Part I: Professionalism, Norms and Boundaries 1. Out of Bounds: Professional Norms as Boundary Markers Jane B. Singer 2. Nothing But The Truth: Redrafting the Journalistic Boundary of Verification Alfred Hermida 3. Divided we stand: Blurred Boundaries in Argentine Journalism Adriana Amado and Silvio Waisbord 4. The Wall Becomes a Curtain: Revisiting Journalisms News-Advertising Boundary Mark Coddington 5. Creating Proper Distance through Networked Infrastructure: Examining Google Glass for Evidence of Moral, Journalistic Witnessing Mike Ananny 6. Hard News/Soft News: The Hierarchy of Genres and the Boundaries of the Profession Helle Sjovaag 7. Internal Boundaries: The Stratification of the Journalistic Collective Jenny Wiik Part II: Encountering Non-Journalistic Actors in Newsmaking 8. Journalism Beyond the Boundaries: the Collective Construction of News Narratives David Domingo and Florence Le Cam 9. Redrawing Borders from Within: Commenting on News Stories as Boundary Work Sue Robinson 10. Resisting Epistemologies of User-Generated Content? Cooptation, Segregation and the Boundaries of Journalism Karin Wahl-Jorgensen 11. NGOs as Journalistic Entities: The Possibilities, Problems and Limits of Boundary Crossing Matthew Powers 12. Drawing Boundary Lines Between Journalism and Sociology, 1895-1999 C.W. Anderson Epilogue: Studying Boundaries of Journalism: Where Do We Go From Here? Seth C. Lewis